"Lithuania observes the annual Mourning and Hope Day on June 14 in memory of those deported. In August 1939, Nazi Germany and Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact whereby dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. The Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) became part of the Russian sphere. The Soviet Union began preparations for the occupation and incorporation of these territories. First, it imposed mutual assistance treaties by which the Baltic states agreed to allow military bases for Soviet soldiers within their territory. Further steps were delayed by Winter War with Finland. By spring 1940, the war was over"
"on 30 November 1939, which started the Winter War. Finnish defences prevented an all-out invasion, resulting in an interim peace, but Finland was forced to cede strategically important border areas near Leningrad. The Soviet Union provided material support to Germany in the war effort against Western Europe through a pair of commercial agreements, the first in 1939 and the second in 1940, which involved exports of raw materials (phosphates, chromium and iron ore, mineral oil, grain, cotton, and rubber). These and other export goods transported through Soviet and occupied Polish territories allowed Germany to circumvent the British naval blockade. In"
"be drawn into the war. The Moscow Peace Treaty ended the war in March 1940, precluding the possibility of intervention. The Winter War started in November 1939. In February 1940, a Soviet offensive broke through the Mannerheim Line on the Karelian Isthmus, exhausting Finnish defenses and forcing the country's government to accept peace negotiations on Soviet terms. As the news that Finland might be forced to cede its sovereignty to the USSR, public opinion in France and Britain, already favorable to Finland, swung in favor of military intervention. When rumors of an armistice reached governments in Paris and London, both"
"probably included a large number not enrolled as regular Polish Army servicemen. The Polish PWN encyclopaedia gives the number of approximately 240,000 prisoners taken by the Red Army. The Winter War (, , ) or the Soviet-Finnish War () began when the Soviet Union attacked Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the invasion of Poland by Germany that started World War II. Because the attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on 14 December. The Continuation War (, , was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the"
"the Winter War with Finland, Soviet Union began heightening tensions in late spring 1940 just as Nazi Germany was winning the Battle of France. Though the Lithuanian government and army had several months to plan for a contingency, the reaction was sluggish and no decisive steps were taken. The military developed a defensive plan against Russia (known as Plan R), but it was just a slightly modified Plan L for defense against Poland. Before midnight on 14 June 1940, Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania. The Lithuanian government, given less than 12 hours to respond, held an emergency meeting"
"invasion. The Soviet Union on September 17. Soon after that, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in addition, it annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania. The Soviet Union attacked Finland on November 30, 1939 which started the Winter War. Finnish defence prevented a complete occupation of the country, but Finland was forced to cede strategically important border areas near Leningrad. The Soviet Union supported Germany in the war effort against Western Europe through the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement with exports of raw materials (phosphates, chromium and iron ore, mineral oil, grain, cotton, rubber). These and other export goods"
"the Soviet Union finally attacked Finland in November 1939, which led to the Winter War. After its defeat in March 1940, Finland had to make major territorial concessions as part of the resulting Moscow Peace Treaty. Feeling abandoned by the Western Allies, Finland started to seek help against the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Finland sought inclusion in wider Scandinavian defense co-operation, but both Soviet and German opposition prevented this. The German occupation of Denmark and Norway from April 1940 severed practical Finnish connections to countries other than the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Sweden. A proposed Swedish-Finnish military"
"the territories populated mostly by ethnic Belarusians and Ukrainians. Next, Soviet Union sent ultimatums to the Baltic states and gained control in September and October. The Soviet Union had negotiated with the Finns for over a year, but they refused Soviet demands, and the Red Army assaulted on 30 November 1939 starting the Winter War. Simultaneously, a puppet regime, called the Finnish Democratic Republic, was set by the Soviets. The initial period of the resulting war proved disastrous for the Soviet military. As a direct result of the Soviet aggression the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations"
"to their barracks along the Maginot Line, beginning the Phoney War. A notable event during the Phoney War was the Winter War, which started with the Soviet Union's assault on Finland on 30 November 1939. Public opinion, particularly in France and Britain, found it easy to side with Finland, and demanded from their governments effective action in support of ""the brave Finns"" against their much larger aggressor, the Soviet Union, particularly since the Finns' defence seemed so much more successful than that of the Poles during the September Campaign. As a consequence of its attack, the Soviet Union was expelled"
"in the Winter War. The Soviet Union also annexed Bessarabia, leading Romania to ally with Germany. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a massive surprise attack on the Soviet Union. Despite its colossal losses, Soviets alone were responsible for 80% of Germans WWII military casualties. Consequently, since most of the German forces were concentrated on the Eastern Front, USSR was able to push the Germans back once the Allies opened a second front in Europe. After an initial devastating advance, the Wehrmacht suffered its first defeat in war at Moscow. The Germans and their allies tried in 1942 to"
"War in 1939, the Soviet military had broken into two camps; one side was represented by Spanish Civil War veterans General P. V. Rychagov of the Soviet Air Force, Soviet armour expert General Dimitry Pavlov, and Stalin's favorite, Marshal Grigory Kulik, Chief of Artillery Administration. The other side consisted of the Khalkhin Gol veterans led by Generals Zhukov and G. P. Kravchenko of the Soviet Air Force. The lessons of Russia's ""first real war on a massive scale using tanks, artillery, and airplanes"" at Nomonhan (Khalkhin Gol) went unheeded. During the Finland War (Winter War), BT-2 and BT-5 tanks were"
"Franco-British plans for intervention in the Winter War During the early stages of World War II, the British and French Allies made a series of proposals to send troops to assist Finland against the Soviet Union in the Winter War, which started on 30 November 1939. The war was a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which put Finland into the Soviet sphere of influence. The plans involved the transit of British and French troops and equipment through neutral Norway and Sweden. The initial plans were abandoned due to Norway and Sweden declining transit through their land, fearing their countries would"
"the terms of the mutual assistance pact marked the beginning of the fruition of long-standing Soviet desires to gain control of the Baltics. Similar demands were forwarded to Finland. On October 5, 1939, the Finns had been invited to Moscow to ""discuss mutual problems."" The Finns refused to sign a pact of mutual assistance, and on November 30, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, launching the Winter War. Because the Soviet attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on December 14. Finland mounted a skilful defensive effort and managed to stall the Soviet"
"War. During the Winter War the material situation improved, but it still lagged behind the more modern and well-equipped Red Army. The relationship between the Soviet Union and Finland had been tense—a legacy of the two periods of forced Russification at the turn of the century and the failed Soviet-backed socialist rebellion in Finland, as well as incursions by groups of Finnish nationalists—the Viena expedition in 1918 and the Aunus expedition of 1919—into Russian East Karelia. On 14 October 1920, Finland and Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Tartu, confirming the new Finnish-Soviet border as the old border between the"
"30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The Lapland War was fought between Finland and Germany from September 1944 to April 1945 in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. It included: In his 1981 paper, ""Fighting the Russians in Winter: Three Case Studies"", Chew draws on experiences from the Allied-Soviet War in Northern Russia during the Winter of 1918–19, the destruction of the Soviet 44th Motorized Rifle Division, and Nazi–Soviet Warfare during World War II to derive winter warfare factors"
"territorial and other concessions on the Finns, the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939 starting the Winter War. Finland won very wide popular support in Britain and the United States. Soviet success in Finland would threaten Germany's iron-ore supplies and offered the prospect of Allied interference in the region. The Soviets overwhelmed the Finnish resistance in the Winter War, and a peace treaty was signed in March 1940. It ceded some Finnish territory to the Soviet Union, including the Karelian Isthmus, containing Finland's second-largest city, Viipuri, and the critical defensive structure of the Mannerheim Line. After the Winter War,"
"the World War. Only a year later, in June 1941, hostilities resumed in the Continuation War. Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War. Finland had to cede border areas to the Soviet Union. The treaty was signed by Vyacheslav Molotov, Andrey Zhdanov and Aleksandr Vasilevsky for Soviet Union, and Risto Ryti, Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Rudolf Walden and Väinö Voionmaa for Finland. The Finnish government received the first tentative peace conditions from"
"Continuation War The Continuation War was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany, as co-belligerents, against the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1941 to 1944, during World War II. In Russian historiography, the war is called the Soviet–Finnish Front of the Great Patriotic War. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its overall war efforts on the Eastern Front and provided Finland with critical material support and military assistance. The Continuation War began 15 months after the end of the Winter War, also fought between Finland and the USSR. There have been a number of reasons proposed"
"military invasion against Finland on 30 November 1939. Soviet leaders predicted that Finland would be conquered in a couple of weeks. However, even though the Red Army had huge superiority in men, tanks, guns and airplanes, the Finns were able to defend their country for about 3.5 months and still avoid invasion successfully. The Winter War ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow peace treaty, in which Finland lost the Karelian Isthmus to the Soviet Union. The Winter War was a big loss of prestige for the Soviet Union, and it was expelled from the League of Nations because"
"in 1940 and the German Army occupied all of Norway until May 1945. With the acquiescence of the Kingdom of Sweden, German troops moved from northern Norway, across northern Sweden, into Finland, which had become an ally of Nazi Germany. Then, in the spring of 1941, the German Army and the Finnish Army invaded the Soviet Union together. The Republic of Finland had a grievance against the Soviet Union because the Red Army had invaded southeastern Finland in the Winter War (1939–40) and had taken a large area of territory away from Finland. Sweden remained a neutral country during the"
"Cross of Sorrow The Cross of Sorrow (, , ""Krest skorbi"") is a memorial in Russia dedicated to the thousands of soldiers of both sides who perished in the Winter War of 1939–1940 when the Soviet Union attacked Finland. It is located in Pitkyarantsky District, Karelia, near the crossroads Pitkyaranta – Suojarvi / Petrozavodsk – Vyartsilya, 19 km off Pitkyaranta. It is the first monument to the Winter War in Russia. It is a cast-iron cross with Finnish and Russian mothers leaning to it from the opposite sides in sorrow for the dead. It is located on an artificial mound,"
"Lithuanian–Soviet War The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War () was fought between newly independent Republic of Lithuania and the proto-Soviet Union (Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and Lithuanian–Belorussian SSR) in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the larger Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919. The offensive followed retreating German troops with aims of incorporating the Baltic states and Poland into the Soviet Union and bring victory to the German Revolution. Soviet Russia and the other Soviet republics were de jure independent entities but were de facto in union, they did not officially unite into the Soviet Union"
"broke off diplomatic relations with Finland. On November 30, 1939, forces of the USSR under the command of Kliment Voroshilov attacked Finland in what became known as the Winter War, starting with the invasion of Finnish Karelia and bombing civilian boroughs of Helsinki. On December 1, 1939, the puppet socialist government of the Finnish Democratic Republic was established under the auspices of the Soviet Union in the border town of Terijoki. On December 14 the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations for waging a war of aggression. After presiding over the disastrous start of the campaign, and"
"demands for bases and troop transfer rights, but Finland continued to refuse. As diplomatic pressure had failed, arms were resorted to, and on November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union began an invasion of Finland—the Winter War. The Winter War produced in Finns a rude awakening to international politics. Condemnation by the League of Nations and by countries all over the world seemed to have no effect on Soviet policy. Sweden allowed volunteers to join the Finnish army, but did not send military support, and refused passage to French or British troops—which were in any event made ready in lower numbers"
"malfunctions of materiel, both vehicles and weapons. The Siachen conflict is a military conflict between India and Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conflict began in 1984 with India's successful Operation ""Meghdoot"" during which it gained control over all of the Siachen Glacier. A cease-fire went into effect in 2003. The following actions were fought in the Arctic by land and naval forces between 1941 and 1945 in the following theaters of operations: The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on"
"began its advance during the Winter War on November 30, 1939, Kuusinen was pronounced head of the Finnish Democratic Republic (also known as the Terijoki Government)—Joseph Stalin's puppet regime through which Stalin intended to rule Finland. A ""Declaration of the People's Government of Finland"" was issued in Terijoki on December 1, 1939, and a ""Treaty of Mutual Assistance and Friendship Between the Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Finland"" signed by Molotov and Kuusinen in Moscow on December 2, 1939 However, the war did not go as planned, and the Soviet leadership decided to negotiate a peace with the"
"with the Western powers. At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union formed a puppet government and cut connections with the Ryti–Tanner government. The Finnish Army fought defensively in battles during December 1939 and January 1940. This gained time and freedom for diplomatic manoeuvering. The Soviet Union was forced to drop the Terijoki Government and accept negotiations via Stockholm. The Western allies planned intervention influenced the Soviet government to seek an agreement. Ryti persuaded the rest of the cabinet to settle for peace and signed the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The peace agreement, in which Finland"
"were executed in the woods at Sandormokh near the Solovetsky Islands. In 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland starting the Winter War. The Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940 handed most of Finnish Karelia to the Soviet Union. About 400,000 people, virtually the whole population, had to be relocated within Finland. In 1941 Karelia was re-conquered for three years during the Continuation War with the Finnish military administration in Eastern Karelia during 1941-1944. The Winter War and Continuation War ceding, with resulting Soviet expansion caused considerable bitterness in Finland, which had lost its second largest city, Viipuri, its industrial heartland along"
"NKVD executed them all in summer 1940. Today, the former battlefield is the site of the Monument of the Winter War dedicated to all who died in the war on both sides. The memorial includes a field of thousands of stones as symbolic gravestones of the Soviet soldiers who fell in the battle. The Russian monument was installed in September 1994, and the Ukrainians installed their own monument in the spring of 1998. Battle of Raate Road The Battle of Raate Road was a battle fought during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in January 1940, as"
"on 1 September 1939. On 30 November the Red Army also attacked Finland, in the Winter War of 1939–1940. By autumn 1940, after conquering its portion of Poland, the Third Reich shared an extensive border with USSR, with whom it remained neutrally bound by their non-aggression pact and trade agreements. Another consequence of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, carried out by the Southern Front in June–July 1940 and Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940). These conquests also added to the border the Soviet Union shared with Nazi-controlled areas. For Adolf Hitler, the"
"Interim Peace The Interim Peace (, ) was a short period in the history of Finland during the Second World War. The term is used for the time between the Winter War and the Continuation War, lasting a little over a year, from 13 March 1940 to 24 June 1941. The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940 and it ended the 105-day Winter War. In the aftermath of the Winter War, both the Soviet Union and Finland were preparing for a new war while the Soviets pressured the Finns politically. In"
"Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) was fought by the Second Polish Republic, Ukrainian People's Republic and the proto–Soviet Union (Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine) for control of a region comparable to today's westernmost Ukraine and parts of modern Belarus. Poland's Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski, felt the time was right to expand Polish borders as far east as feasible, to be followed by a Polish-led ""Intermarium"" federation of Central and Eastern European states, as a bulwark against the re-emergence of German and Russian imperialism. Vladimir Lenin saw Poland as the bridge the Red Army had"
"Causes of the Polish–Soviet War In the Polish–Soviet War of 1919-1921, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine were in combat with the newly independent Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic. Both sides aimed to secure territory in the often disputed areas of today's Ukraine and parts of modern-day Belarus, in the context of the fluidity of borders in Central and Eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War I and the breakdown of the Russian and German empires. The first clashes between the two sides occurred in February 1919, but full-scale war did not break out until the following"